William David Powell

William David Powell
Born (1925-02-27)February 27, 1925
California, U.S.
Died March 13, 1968(1968-03-13) (aged 43)
California
Occupation Television writer, producer
Parent(s) William Powell
Eileen Wilson

William David Powell (February 27, 1925 – March 13, 1968) was an American writer and associate producer.

Early life

Powell was the only child of actor William Powell and actress Eileen Wilson, who divorced in 1930.

Personal Life & Career

William David Powell graduated from Princeton, with a magna cum laude in English. On Saturday, December 22, 1956, at age 31, Powell wed former child actress Patricia Parsons, 23, exchanging their wedding vows at the home of his father, on Vereda Norte in Palm Springs, Ca. The wedding ceremony which was performed by Judge Eugene Therieau, and witnessed by members of the immediate families. Acting as best man was his father actor William Powell, and acting as matron of honor for her sister was Mrs. Kenneth Zook of Hollywood. The couple later honeymooned in Las Vegas, NV. -They would later divorce.

Powell went on to become a television writer, whose credits include episodes of Bonanza, Death Valley, 77 Sunset Strip and Rawhide. He also worked as a story editor and coordinator, later an associate producer at Warner Bros. and Universal Studios, and held an executive position at NBC.

Death

After suffering from depression, hepatitis and kidney problems that had forced him to quit writing, in 1968 he committed suicide by stabbing himself repeatedly in the upper body while in the shower. He left a four-page note addressed to his father, to whom he was still very close.

The last two sentences of this note were revealed to the public: "Things aren't so good here. I'm going where it's better."

Powell was buried at Cathedral City's Desert Memorial Park in Riverside County, California, where his father and his father's last wife, Diana Lewis, are also buried.[1]

References

  1. ↑ Brooks, Patricia; Brooks, Jonathan (2006). "Chapter 8: East L.A. and the Desert". Laid to Rest in California: a guide to the cemeteries and grave sites of the rich and famous. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot Press. p. 243. ISBN 978-0762741014. OCLC 70284362.
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